A woman has opened up about her life on a cruise ship - and how little it costs her. Watch here:
Christine Kesteloo, from Vlissingen, Netherlands, spends half of each year cruising and has been sailing on and off for the past 12 years.
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She used to be a cruise and travel director, until she lost her job in 2020 as a result of the pandemic - but that hasn't stopped her living the cruise life.
Her husband still works on cruise ships as a staff chief engineer, and Christine is now a 'WOB', or 'wife on board'.
It means she doesn't have to pay to live on her floating home, and Christine and her husband's weekly costs come in at about £65 a week.
"Some would say I live like I'm on vacation every day — and I do," she admitted in a piece penned for Insider.
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"Every day, I'm in a new place and my biggest decisions are whether I want to go to teatime, lie in the sun, or do a wine tasting."
While living this life of decadence, Christine only has to fork out $20 (£15) a week for internet access and $10 (£7) a week on tips for her room steward - which is a bargain really, given that he cleans the room for her.
"I try to keep our room tidy, but we also have a wonderful room steward who comes by each day," Christine explained.
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"He vacuums, changes the sheets, dusts, cleans our small bathroom, and leaves us fresh towels.
"A room steward is a perk for high-ranking officers on the ship, and we choose to always leave a tip."
Her laundry is also done on a daily basis free of charge, meaning her only remaining expenditure is meals at speciality restaurants.
You can get by without paying for food on the ship, as there is a whole host of free dining options available, but Christine and her hubby like to splash out from time to time.
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"The majority of our food on board is free and I'm well fed," Christine wrote.
"There's a wide selection, including a buffet, pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs, ice cream, and sushi — basically, anything you can dream of.
"We pay for food only if we decide to dine at one of the ship's specialty restaurants, which usually costs between $20 and $50 a person. We usually tip between $5 and $10.
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"Room service is free to order on the ship, and we usually tip between $2 and $5 each time."
So in total, she calculates that they spend about $87 (£66) a week, so $43.50 (£33) each - and even that minimal expenditure is all optional.
Doesn't sound half bad, right?
I sampled the cruise life for myself recently, going straight in at the deep end on the first sailing of the world's biggest cruise ship - and lemme tell ya, it was eye-opening. Read all about it here.
Jake Massey